Walgreen’s New Application Offers 24 Hour Medical Care To Customers

73.99
Trefis
WAG: Walgreen logo
WAG
Walgreen

Walgreen (NYSE:WAG), the largest drugstore chain in the U.S., has introduced a new mobile application that gives customers access to 24 hours medical care. The company has launched a first-of-its-kind platform in collaboration with MDLIVE , a leading provider of telehealth services in the U.S., which give customers the option to consult with a board-certified doctor for just $49. [1] Doctors can  diagnose, write prescriptions and treat conditions that do not require a physical exam. The service is currently only available to users in California and Michigan, but Walgreen plans to roll-out the platform to additional states and markets over time. The application is available in both the iOS and Android versions of the Walgreen mobile application.

Last year, Walgreen launched its Pharmacy Chat feature, which allows users to chat live with members of its pharmacy staff, as part of its telehealth platform. The virtual doctor visits application takes Walgreen’s telehealth platform a step further by providing customers with increased access to medical care. The strategy is in line with the company’s aim to bring quality health care that is convenient and affordable to everyone, anytime, anywhere.

The U.S. is currently facing an acute shortage of primary care physicians. With 30 million additional Americans expected to be included under healthcare coverage (as a result of the Affordable Care Act), the demand is expected to outweigh the supply by about 45,000 doctors by the end of this decade. This trend has led many drugstore chains, including Walgreen, to expand their health care offerings by opening an increasing number of in-store clinics in the country. Retail clinics or in-store clinics are walk-in health clinics at a pharmacy store that utilize nationally recognized protocols to diagnose and treat minor health conditions, perform health screenings, monitor chronic conditions and dispense vaccinations at much lower prices than a hospital. While Walgreen has a higher pharmacy store count compared to CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) (which has the second largest store count in the U.S.), it falls behind CVS in the number of retail clinics in its stores. Walgreen operates around 400 retail clinics in 19 states in the U.S., whereas CVS has over 800 MinuteClinics (its retail clinics) in 28 states.

Relevant Articles
  1. Beating S&P500 BY 11% YTD, What To Expect From Travelers Stock?
  2. Up 50% Over The Last 12 Months, Is Hyatt Stock Still Attractive?
  3. Capital One Stock Gained 44% In The Last 6 Months, What’s Next?
  4. Up 8% Year To Date As 5G Gains Traction, What’s Next For Verizon Stock?
  5. Up 32% In The Last 12 Months, Where Is BNY Mellon Stock Headed?
  6. Rallying 30% YTD, What’s Spurring The Rally In Applied Materials’ Stock?

The new virtual visits platform adds another layer to that competition. Health insurers like Anthem, big employers and hospital groups also offer virtual doctor visits. [1] Kaiser Permanente is already performing over 50% of its visits virtually – through mobile, or secure messaging or video. [2]

This week, Walgreen also announced that its CEO since 2009, Greg Wasson, will retire once the company’s merger with Alliance Boots is complete.

Our price estimate of $64 for Walgreens is slightly below the current market price.

View our analysis for Walgreens

View Interactive Institutional Research (Powered by Trefis):
Global Large Cap | U.S. Mid & Small Cap | European Large & Mid Cap
More Trefis Research

Notes:
  1. Walgreen Tests Virtual Doctor Visits Through App, Daily Finance, December 8, 2014 [] []
  2. Kaiser virtual-visits growth shows the technology’s potential, Modern Healthcare, December 4, 2014 []